Left Breathless
by ExquisiteEdward
Summary: His poetry lured me into an irresistible game of temptation, but when it takes a dark turn, will he let me retrieve my pawn and escape? Do I even want to? E/B, AH, Rated M.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey, there. My fingers felt the need to type something new. Chapters will be short, updates frequent. This is my first foray into erotica, and this Edward will be a deviant. ;)**

**_Webster's Dictionary_ defines a deviant as _having behavior or characteristics from that which is normal or expected, especially in an undesirable or socially disapproved manner. _**

**Thank you to my wonderful pre-readers whom I love: Lfcpam, JayNahNah, betsmecullen, and SunflowerFran.**

**SM owns Twilight.**

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_**LEFT BREATHLESS**_

_**CHAPTER 1**_

Glancing at the clock on the wall, a soft sigh escaped me; my evening shift at the coffee shop had finally ended. Murmuring a quick goodbye to my co-workers, I clocked out and headed back to my dorm room. It was time to collect my books and walk over to the library. I could never concentrate when my roommate Alice was around. She had a bubbly personality and loved to converse, which became overwhelming to me most days. I didn't like to nor did I have the time to talk; I needed to work hard and focus on my studies.

I knocked on the door first and took my time finding my key, giving her a moment in case she had someone over. I heard some noisy shuffling and giggling alerting me to the fact that she wasn't alone. Placing my key in the door, I slowly turned it and pushed it open.

"Oh, Bella… Do you remember Jasper?" Alice asked from her sitting position on her futon before giggling and trying to push Jasper away from her neck.

"Yeah... Hi," I mumbled.

Jasper looked up and smiled, murmuring, "Hey, Bella," before returning to Alice's neck.

With my head down, I quickly made my way over to my desk. Grabbing my books and my laptop, I tucked them into my bag, making sure I had everything I needed.

I slipped back out the door without being noticed. Making my way across campus, the chilly autumn air whipped harshly, cutting a sharp edge through my body. I pulled my jacket closer and picked up my pace. Within minutes, I was inside the library doors, the heated air a warm welcome as I quickly smoothed down my wind-blown hair.

"Hi," I said to Angela, the librarian who worked evenings.

"Hey, Bella," she responded with a warm smile.

I nodded and smiled slightly before heading towards my spot in the corner. I always chose the same seat facing the wall so I wouldn't be distracted by other students. The campus library was huge, so there was never a problem finding a seat, and people are creatures of habit so my spot was almost always vacant.

Absently dropping my backpack on the table, I slipped my jacket off and hung it on the back of my chair. I pulled out my books and laptop from my bag before settling into my seat. After shoving my ear buds in my ears, I reached to open my book when my eyes caught sight of something on the desk. It was handwriting of some sort. Curiously, I pushed my book back, revealing a string of words written directly on the desktop…

_Her beauty scorches my skin, dusting salt on my bleary eyes, feasting painfully on my raw, bloody flesh._

The words were written in pencil in a lovely, looping pattern, which I admired, but it was the words themselves that left me gasping. I had never read anything quite like them before. The poetry held beauty and pain and had an almost frightening edge to it, yet I still felt deeply moved by it somehow.

Tugging my ear buds off, I leaned closer, reading the words again… slower this time. Swallowing hard, I turned in my seat, my eyes darting around to all of the students in the room. Each person was involved in his or her own world: studying, listening to music or quietly talking to the person next to them. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary and that no one seemed to be watching me, I turned back and stared down at the words again. Reaching my hand up, I let my fingers slowly trace over them, the smooth coolness of the desk feeling like icy silk under my fingertips.

Taking in a deep breath, I finally pulled my book back down over the words, covering them up, and opened my textbook. I started reading and tried to focus, but I could not stop thinking about those words just lying there, so close to me, almost touching me...

Sighing, I pushed the book back and read them again, dissecting them and trying to decipher their meaning. I couldn't help but wonder about the person who penned them. Did he write those words, or was he quoting someone, possibly a famous poet?

Pulling my laptop towards me, I quickly brought up Google and typed the words into the search engine. But it revealed nothing. I determined that more than likely the person who penned those words also wrote them, but who did he write them for? Was it for a poetry class?

For the rest of my study session, I kept the words exposed, my eyes being drawn to them frequently. Just before I left around midnight, I pulled out a notebook and copied them down to keep them, even though I knew I had already committed them to memory.

When I got back to the dorm, Alice was gone; I assumed she was out with Jasper. I slipped into my night clothes and just as I was about to switch the light off, I noticed something dark on the tip of my index finger. Holding it up to the light, I frowned as I stared down at it. It was a small smudge of pencil lead. I felt an odd sensation run through me when the thought that I had somehow transferred those poetic words to my skin pierced my consciousness.

I switched the light off and crawled under the covers…

…and left the smoky-colored smudge on my fingertip.

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**A/N: Want more? ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm so happy that you wanted more because I want more too. ;) This story is all human.**

**Thanks to my lovelies: Lfcpam, JayNahNah, betsmecullen, and SunflowerFran.**

**SM owns Twilight.**

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_**LEFT BREATHLESS**_

_**CHAPTER 2**_

When my alarm went off the following morning, my hand reached out to hit the snooze. Curling up on my side, I was just about to doze off again when I remembered the events from last night. Sitting up, I quickly turned on my bedside light and inspected my fingertip. I frowned, feeling a strange sense of loss when I saw that the smudge was gone. Sighing softly, I flipped my alarm off and lay back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I could not reason the unusual pull I had towards those words, or why they were affecting me so greatly. Someone's random poetry written on a desk in a college library should not be producing such atypical behavior in me.

Even though it made no logical sense, I truly felt that somehow those words weren't random, particularly because of the way they were positioned on the desk. They weren't written slanted, off to the side as if someone were doodling; they were written at the bottom of the desk centered precisely. It seemed that someone had written them with purpose.

My classes went by more slowly than usual, my mind continually reciting the words and contemplating them. When my shift ended at the coffee shop, I went back to the dorm to collect my books and found Alice there. She was alone this time and began incessantly talking about Jasper, a party she wanted me to attend and various other topics of which I had no interest.

With my coat on and backpack slung over my shoulder, my eyes kept darting between the clock and the door. Seeing no end in sight, I finally interrupted her. "Alice, I'm sorry but can we talk later? I have a lot of studying to do tonight."

She frowned. "I just don't understand you, Bella. You need to loosen up and have some fun. We are in college; these are the best years of our lives and all you want to do is spend every second worrying about your grades. You need to get out and meet more people because your social life sucks. Are you going to the party with me tomorrow night or not?"

I sighed heavily. "I don't know. I'll think about it."

I had absolutely no intention of going to that party, but I had to tell her something otherwise she was never going to drop it. I had been to several parties with Alice before, and I had been miserable on every occasion.

I mumbled a quick goodbye to her and headed out the door. I needed to see that desk again, almost to the point of desperation. I had to see if the words were still there, or if they had been erased. What if there were new ones?

My pulse quickened with that thought as well as my pace.

Once inside the library, I smiled and nodded at Angela.

"Hey, Bella, is it getting colder out there?"

My mind had been so preoccupied that I hadn't noticed. "Yeah, yeah it is," I said quickly. I continued walking and felt my breathing accelerate as I rounded the corner. I could see from the distance that my seat was empty, and a feeling of relief washed over me. I strained to see if I could see anything on the desk, but I was still too far away. I swallowed hard, my eyes quickly darting around the area. I made eye contact with several people; however, they were all casual acknowledgements someone would give a stranger upon entering a room.

I arrived at my seat, my pulse racing and quickly looked down. I saw words and my heart leapt when I realized they were new ones. I quickly dropped my bag onto the floor, pulled the chair out and sunk down into the seat. My fingertips gripped the edge of the desk tightly as I read them…

_Her thirst mangles my deafened ears, scattering silent screams untouched, parching my tongue to ash._

The words left me breathless in their poetic beauty. I read them over and over, absorbing them, trying to find their hidden meaning.

_Her thirst…_

I felt those first two words were indeed referring to a physical thirst, but not for water. They were referencing a sensual thirst; a woman thirsting for a man. I looked over my shoulder, quickly scanning the room and tucked my hair behind my ears before looking back down. _Could someone be writing these words about me?_ I immediately scoffed at the idea. I was a plain nobody. Like Alice said, I had no friends, no social life. Who would write words of such beauty for someone like that?

As I sat there, everything suddenly became clear. I was right; these words weren't random. These words were written for someone… someone else; someone of great beauty, someone that was desired, objectified.

I was not that someone.

A great sadness came over me. I was not the type of person prone to tears, but I felt like I could have broken down in that moment.

I slowly removed my jacket and hung it on the back of my chair. Leaning down, I pulled my books and laptop from my bag, arranging them on my desk just so. Taking in a deep breath, I pulled out one last thing from my backpack…

A pencil…

…and slowly erased the words from the desk.

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**A/N: ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello again. ;))**

**Thank you to my incredibly beautiful pre-readers: Lfcpam, JayNahNah, and betsmecullen.**

**SM owns Twilight.**

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_**LEFT BREATHLESS**_

_**CHAPTER 3**_

That night before I went to bed, I pulled my notebook from my bag. I opened it to the page where I'd jotted down the line of poetry from the previous day. I added the second line and silently read it back from the beginning…

_Her beauty scorches my skin, dusting salt on my bleary eyes, feasting painfully on my raw, bloody flesh._

_Her thirst mangles my deafened ears, scattering silent screams untouched, parching my tongue to ash._

Since I had studied that second line so intently before I erased it, it had burned itself into my memory. I felt shame writing those words down, as if I were stealing them somehow. Yet I think my shame lay more in what those words were doing to me. I had somehow become a prisoner to them, consumed by their peculiar, haunting allure.

The following day was a Saturday. I worked my morning shift at the coffee house and was off by noon. I typically spent my Saturday afternoons and well up into the evening at the library, but I decided to stay at the dorm instead. I was in a melancholy mood, and I didn't think I could handle seeing any more words on that desk.

After much cajoling, Alice finally convinced me to go to the party she had invited me to. She had just recently met Jasper, and the party was going to be at his place off-campus.

Upon arriving at the two-story brownstone, we found the house packed with students. Loud dance music vibrated off the walls and through the sea of dancing bodies. Alice held my hand tightly, guiding me through the throng to the kitchen where Jasper was mixing drinks.

"Alice, darlin'," he called out. Grabbing her in his arms, he dipped her with a flourish before quickly righting her. He pulled her back against his chest, wrapping his arms around her waist and stared at me over her shoulder.

"Hey, Bella," he said in a loud voice over the music. "Glad you could come."

I smiled and gave him a small nod in acknowledgement.

Alice looked up at him. "Is Mike here yet?"

"Yeah," Jasper responded. "He's around here somewhere."

"Okay. I'll go see if I can find him," she said. Reaching up, she gave him a quick kiss before leaving his arms. She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the kitchen.

Turning towards me, she began walking backwards, shoving her way unseen through the crowd all the while keeping a firm grip on my hand. "Bella, I have someone you have to meet," she said loudly. "He's friends with Jasper, and he's a really great guy. He's a pre-med student so he's a brainiac just like you. I think you're going to love him."

She turned back around, and even though we were jostled and bumped from every side by gyrating bodies, she kept ahold of me. She only let go when we arrived at the couch. At first, I thought this Mike person must be one of the people sitting there, but my brows furrowed when I watched her climb up the arm of the couch and stand on the very top edge of it, balancing precariously against the wall. Her eyes scanned the crowd of people. "Oh, I see him!" she shouted excitedly and pointed. Climbing back down, she grabbed my hand again, and tugged me through the thick crowd.

"Mike!" she called out, waving.

She did the mandatory introductions before kissing me on the cheek and disappearing back into the crowd. Mike seemed to be nice enough, but he held little interest for me. We determined that we did have several of the same classes together, but I honestly didn't recognize him and had never noticed him before. He got me a beer, and we made small talk.

After a while, I became restless, the noise from the music causing my head to ache a little, and I was ready to leave. I had not enjoyed the evening as I knew I wouldn't, but I felt I had done my part by attending. When I went to say goodbye to Mike, he asked for my number. I kept things truthful and told him I wasn't interested. He argued and teased, trying hard to get my number from me, but I held my ground.

I finally left him, and it took me an inordinate amount of time to find Alice in the crowd. She was sitting on Jasper's lap in the corner, making out. I tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, I'm ready to go."

She looked up at me and frowned. "But we just got here."

"No. We've been here for one hour and forty-five minutes, and I'm ready to leave."

Climbing off Jasper's lap, she dug her keys out of her jeans. "Here," she said, handing them to me. "Take my car. I'll just stay here tonight."

I said my farewells to them both and left the house. When I got back to the dorm, I pulled my hoodie over my head and zipped it. The night air had turned and had an exceptionally cold chill to it. I started walking quickly and as I shoved my hands into my pockets, my fingers touched something. Frowning, I stopped and pulled it out. It was a small piece of paper, just a couple of inches in width, and folded very precisely. I carefully turned it over, staring intently at it and knowing full well that I didn't put anything in my pocket before I left.

With a cautious hand, I slowly opened it… and my heart thundered in my chest when I recognized the looping handwriting. I heaved lungful's of icy air through my gaping mouth as I gripped the small note in both hands and read…

_Her appetite scorns my heavy brow, flicking seeds of doubt unwavering, knotting my hungered gut. _

My eyes quickly darted around the dark parking lot and that's when I knew…

…those beautiful, poetic words were written for me.

**A/N: ;)**


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